


one day

by cyoza



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, F/M, and i’m about to make it worse, it’s been a rough couple of weekends lads m, pregnancy cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:15:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyoza/pseuds/cyoza
Summary: If you’ve ever watched the movie One Day with Anne Hathaway then you know what this is about.Dick comes to terms with an anniversary.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Comments: 13
Kudos: 25





	one day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, 
> 
> I was feeling very like angsty lately and I wrote this for like catharsis purposes.  
> I wrote and edited it on my phone bc my laptop still isn’t working so if there are any mistakes I’ve missed or anything else, I can only apologise and hope it doesn’t ruin it. 
> 
> As I wrote this literally just to write it so I haven’t fact checked anything or thought about logic so keep that in mind haha.

April 25th. 

A date that to the average person would be insignificant. However, to Dick, it held the weight of the world.

Every year it loomed. 

Every year he told himself he could handle it. 

Every year he failed to. 

It always started the same, even before he awoke. His dreams would fill his heart with lead before he’d even opened his eyes. 

Ironically, the images before his eyelids were always bright, nostalgic...happy. 

This year it seemed to focus on the theme of summer, memories of a time he took her to the beach assaulting his mind.

-

_‘Okay, I’m just saying, don’t you think it’s nuts that you guys just swim in this large body of water that’s 70% unexplored? That's so scary!’_

__

__

_‘Kory, I will not have this conversation with you again. We can’t do this everytime we come to the beach.’_

__

_‘But I’m right! It’s nuts!’_

__

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_‘Koriand’r.’_

__

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_Dick always felt a hitch in his heartbeat whenever he said her full name. It reminded him of her status, of her sheer ethereal existence and yet here she was, in love with him._

__

_Though she’d said the words countless times before and given up everything for him, Dick found it hard to believe that it was reality. That she had forsaken her throne to her brother, to stay with him, to love him, when she could have whoever she wanted. She had said that she needed to ‘be all that she could be’ and ‘that couldn’t happen without him.’_

__

__

_He had never felt so lucky and undeserving in his life. And he would spend the rest of it trying to become as such._

__

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_However, Kory’s attention was precious at that point. In between training the team and teaching at the school, Dick found he never had any proper time with her anymore; with or without the team. And he missed it dearly._

__

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_Luckily enough, she bounded into his office late that afternoon and insisted he come to the beach with her whilst they had some free time together. Apparently the rest of the team were busy with various things. Gar, Rachel and Jason had told him that they had finals to study for and they couldn't come and Hank, Dawn and Donna all gave her some vague, incontestable excuse that he couldn’t remember. He could only think the team were only feigning their business in an attempt to get them to spend together._

__

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_He found he didn’t care very much either way - he was just happy to be there with her._

__

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_He stepped out of the car after turning off the engine and walked around to the boot to pull out all the beach equipment they’d bought with them. Kory followed him moments after, her maxi, mustard floral dress swishing around her ankles as she walked._

__

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_‘I’ll drop it this time, only because I know I’m right.’ She commented as she took the deck chairs he handed her and turned her back to stride purposefully towards the water, her bottom lip jutted out and chin up in the air._

__

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_Dick could do nothing but smile, especially because she couldn’t see it. He’d never admit it but he loved when she became childish. It meant that she was feeling carefree and she was always most herself when she was carefree. He never loved her more._

__

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_He picked up the rest of the umbrellas, food and the rest of the items then trailed behind her. By the time he’d reached her, she had set up the chairs close enough to the water that he could feel the spray of the sea faintly on his face when it met the sand._

__

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_‘You know, for someone who’s so scared of the ocean, you-‘_

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_Dick’s quip was cut off by the slip of Kory’s thin, spaghetti straps off her shoulders. Upon the revelation of her almost bare body, Dick almost forgot that he was outside in public as the items he was carrying slipped slightly in his arms. She had picked a black, push up bikini top with white bows at the strap and a high rise matching bottom that could barely be called that._

__

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_She looked absolutely breathtaking._

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_‘You were saying?’ She smirked over at him._

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_‘I wasn’t saying anything.’ He croaked out._

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_’That’s what I thought.’_

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_She gathered her burgundy ringlets into her hands and tied it up, somehow making her look even sexier; the look elongating her neck even further._

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_Right, two can play at that game._

__

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_Dick slowly placed everything down before too, grabbing the hem of his shirt and slipping it over his head. By the time he threw the t-shirt on the floor and looked back at Kory, her eyes were no longer on his and instead on his torso. He watched as they darkened in desire, travelling all the way to his toes._

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_‘You okay there, Princess?’ He asked smugly._

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_Her eyes snapped up his own then, both of them narrowing in dismay. Again, she lifted her chin and stuck out her bottom as she cleared her throat._

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_‘Of course.’ She replied, picking up a towel and placing it on the chair before laying down on it._

__

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_Dick too, laid down a towel and settled himself on it, pulling out the book he’d been trying to read for the last 6 months. As it was late afternoon on a weekday, the beach wasn’t busy. Just a few youngsters hanging around the peonage on their skates. They’d mainly been in silence for 10 minutes, just enjoying being close together peacefully. But it wasn’t enough for Kory._

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_‘I wanna do something.’ She announced, sitting up and back on her heels._

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_‘We are doing something.’ He told her, raising his eyebrow and setting the book in his lap. ‘We’re at the beach.’_

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_‘I wanna do something more fun though.’_

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_’Like what?’_

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_‘I don’t knowwwwww.’ She whined._

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_‘Well when you figure it out, let me know.’ He lifted his book back up to begin reading but it was only moments later when it shut of its own accord and was yanked out of his hands._

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_Marco polo!’ Kory exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing his hand._

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_‘Really?!’ He spluttered as he allowed Kory to drag him towards the water, slowing her down just enough to throw his book on his deck chair._

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_’Come on, when was the last time you played it?’ She pulled in far enough that the water rippled around his waist and then let go. ‘You go first.’_

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_Dick looked her for a moment and sighed, acquiescencing and shutting his eyes; unable to say no to her. He waited a second before he called out._

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_‘Marco!’_

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_‘Polo!’_

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_The call came from behind him so he spun and began walking aimlessly towards it._

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_‘Marco!’_

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_‘Polo!’_

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_A little to the left._

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_‘Marco!’_

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_This time, he almost jumped out his skin as lithe, slim fingers cupped his eyes._

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_‘Polo.’ The word was a whisper that grazed his eardrums._

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_He spun, her hands dropping from his eyes as he did, and was rewarded by his favourite sight in the world. Kory was beaming up at him, her eyes crinkling with elation. Dick felt his heart fill and swell, unable to stop his hands from wrapping around her and pulling her close, wanting to be close to her as possible. Even as he felt the way he did, he made light of the situation by habit._

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_‘Ah I see, Marco Polo was just a facade so we could fool around in the water.’ The comment got him an extra twinkle._

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_‘You got me, you figured out my master plan.’ She joked right with him, also wrapping her arms around his waist. ‘We better be careful though, we don’t wanna give old man jones over there a heart attack.’_

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_Kory nodded her head towards the sand where a elderly man sat, watching them with casual interest. He let out a short bark of laughter but otherwise stayed silent, intent on capturing her lips with his._

__

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_So he leaned down to do so..._

-

Then he would wake up and reality would set in. 

She was gone. 

Life hadn’t been bright or happy since then. 

Just the crushing weight of her absence and a hole of darkness where her existence used to be. 

The glow of the clock next to him drew his attention.

12:55pm. 

He’d slept all morning. Unsurprising considering how much he drank yesterday. 

The day before always went the same way. The whole day would pass as normal, Dick trying his hardest to ignore what was coming. Going to work as usual, coming back as usual, cooking, showering. 

But then he would lay down to sleep and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

Her face was all he could see. 

Joyous. 

Angry. 

Caked in blood. 

Then the floodgate would open and he would be terrorised by the memory of her final moments. 

He sat up and poured himself a glass of the whiskey on his bedside table. 

Ready for the torment.  
-

_It was a bullet._

__

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_After all they’d been through and it was a bullet that brought them down now._

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_The alarm had gone off late that evening._

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_There were reports of gunmen in clown costumes terrorising a fair that had called them into town. It started as a routine mission with the whole team, taking out each of the clowns._

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_But then things took a turn for the worse._

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_Rachel was in the middle of taking down two clowns when another one appeared a little distance behind her, aiming their gun at the back of her head. But already being preoccupied, she missed the dangerous clown behind her._

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_He quickly delivered a crippling punch to his own demon and raced towards her, feeling his heart gallop into his mouth when Kory did the same._

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_Kory’s powers had...been on the fritz, to say the least. For the last month, it seemed she couldn’t get control of her powers which meant that she couldn’t get them to work effectively, rendering her effectively powerless. As a result, Dick had been reluctant to let her come on missions but she had reminded him that she was a trained fighter and that she could handle a few humans now and again even without her powers. Despite Dick noting that it wasn’t always humans they fought, she managed to convince him to let her come but that she would not take on more than she could handle._

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_Like at that moment._

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_’Kory, no!’_

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_The words left his mouth in a desperate yell as he watched the clown cock the shotgun. He felt like his lungs were going to burst through his chest with how fast he was running but still he continued. He reached the clown just as it pulled the trigger, immediately drawing an escrima stick and pressing it to the exposed part of the clown's neck. He barely registered it falling to its knees as his eyes promptly darted back to where Rachel had been standing, Kory now with her. His heartbeat was suspended as he watched Kory fall to the ground._

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_God, no._

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_Again, he was racing but this time, he barely felt the crushing exhaustion in his chest, he could only think of her. He reached her in seconds, dropping to his knees and gathering her in his arms._

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_‘I don’t know what happened, she just came out of nowhere and pushed me out of the way!’ Rachel’s breathless voice above him sounded like it was coming from far away._

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_He barely acknowledged it anyway, not able to focus on anything but the shallow rise and fall of Kory’s chest._

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_’Kory..’ He muttered brokenly as he shifted her so he could look at her face._

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_He’d never seen her look so washed out. This definitely wasn’t good._

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_Then he remembered._

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_‘Rachel, h-heal her. P-please. A-and quickly.’ Was that his voice that sounded so strangled and desperate?_

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_‘It won’t work.’_

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_The drained whisper didnt come from Rachel but rather Kory._

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_‘What do you mean, Kory? Of course it will, we’ve done it dozens of times before.’ He pulled her up so he could hold her closer, needing the close proximity so he didn’t lose his mind. ‘Rachel, hurry!’_

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_The young girl nodded, her own eyes glazed over with liquid as she knelt next to Kory and pressed her hands on the bullet wound at her ribs. Dick watched as the familiar glow began to pulse at her fingertips. However, as opposed to the usual threading of fibres around the wound, nothing happened. Again, Rachel tried to heal her and again nothing happened._

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_’It’s not working.’ Rachel sobbed helplessly. ‘Why isn’t it working.’_

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_‘I told you,’ Her voice sounded unbelievably even weaker._

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_‘Why isn’t it working?’ He asked hopelessly, looking at the stars in pleading, barely seeing them through the tears in his eyes._

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_‘Dick.’_

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_‘We have to stop the bleeding then.’ Dick lifted her black tank top and pressed his hand to the wound causing a sharp exhale of pain from Kory. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Kory. You’ll be okay. I promise, you’ll be okay.’_

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_’Dick.’_

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_‘Sh, just save your energy, please.’ Dick kept pressure on the wound, not knowing what else to do. ‘The authorities will be here soon after hearing the shots.’_

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_’Richard!’ Her voice snapped him out of his panic and he looked down at her, feeling his heart break all over again as he did. ‘Just listen to me, please.’_

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_He pressed his lips together and complied._

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_‘It’s too late. The bullet hit my lungs and I’m losing too much blood -‘_

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_Dick couldn’t accept that._

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_’Please just hold on, I can hear the sirens. There’ll be an ambulance here soon-‘_

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_‘Richard Grayson, will you please just listen to me?’_

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_Again he pressed his lips together. Kory’s hand came up to cup his face and he pressed his cheek into it, reveling in her warmth despite the rapidly decreasing temperature of her hand._

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_‘I love you, Dick. I want you to know that and I want you to remember that for the rest of your life. I love you so, so much. No matter what happens, I’ll always be with you.’_

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_‘Kory, please, no,’ A sob escaped him before he could hold it back. ‘I can’t...I can’t do this without you.’_

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_You won’t be alone.’ She gave him a weak smile, rubbing her thumb across the apex of his cheek. ‘I promise.’_

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_And just like that she was gone. Her hand dropped from his face as her head lolled to the side._

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_This couldn’t be real._

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_This couldn’t be happening._

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_Not again._

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_Dick couldn’t have lost another person he loved._

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_Yet there he was, cradling Kory’s soulless body in his arms._

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_A pain he never thought he would have to feel and doubted he could survive._

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-

He’d had questions for weeks after that. 

Why had she run towards Rachel instead of the clown? 

Why couldn’t Rachel heal her? 

How had an alien princess been taken from him by a singular bullet? 

The questions swirled in his mind even as he knew the answers. 

He poured himself another full glass and downed it in two gulps as he thought of the letter he had found on the first anniversary of her death. 

-

_The last year had been...difficult to say the least._

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_The team hadn’t been the same without her. Every action, everything he did seemed to be infected by the memory of her._

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_Breakfast was tainted by the absence of her out of tune humming, he found he couldn’t even shower without the reminder of the times she snuck in to scare him as he did so._

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_His life was spiralling towards a hopeless nihilism that he felt would destroy him soon. Just as he thought things couldn’t get worse, he had found the letter._

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_He had moved out of their shared bedroom to a spare, the memory of her too potent to spend his nights in there. But on the year anniversary of her death, he mustered up the courage to go in there and start sorting through her things._

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_He’d stood in the doorway for upwards of 20 minutes, contemplating how he was going to get through it. But he reminded himself that it needed to be done, he couldn’t just ignore the memory of her and pretend he’d moved on. To do so would be an insult of everything she stood for, everything he knew she would have wanted._

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_So he rallied and stepped over the threshold, immediately met with the faint smell of her perfume that sat on her dresser._

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_He swallowed._

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_Maybe he couldn’t do this._

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He had to. It’s what she would have wanted. 

_He forced his feet to move to her side of the bed and compelled his body to fold and sit so he could start sorting through her bedside cabinet._

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_He chuckled lightly as he opened it to find her favourite book at the very top, Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola. She had once said the mystical worlds and love filled energy the book held reminded her of her home planet. She had referred to it as her ‘chicken soup’ book which Dick didn't quite understand fully but supported her nonetheless._

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_He picked up the book to skim through it when an envelope dropped from the centre. He picked it up with curiosity just to see that it was addressed to him anyway._

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_He heartrate jumped up in anticipation. What could possibly be in there?_

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_Swallowing the lump in his throat, he opened the letter and began to read._

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_**‘My dearest Richard,** _

_****_

_****_

_**I know you’re probably freaking out right now but I didn’t know how else to do this. I thought a nice surprise meal would be ideal so we could keep in tradition.** _

_****_

_****_

_**Here goes. I love you, Richard. I love you so much.** _

_****_

_****_

_**I thought I would write this down so I could read it out otherwise I’m going to mess this up completely.** _

_****_

_****_

_**I did some research as to why my powers have been up in the air lately and I’m surprised I didn’t think of this reason before.** _

_****_

_****_

**_You see, when Tamaranean women have a big change in their body, their powers follow suit and it means that you lose control because your body is going haywire because it’s dealing with this big change._ **

**__**

**__**

**_The big change is that I am pregnant. Pregnancy is usually a positive because it makes you stronger than ever but the first couple months are the opposite. With so much happening it means that your body can’t handle much more to it._ **

**__**

**__**

**_So that’s why my powers have been all over the place lately._ **

**__**

**__**

**_I understand if this isn’t what you want. We already have so much to handle and I’ll understand if this is something that you can’t -_ **

**__**

**__**

_Dick hadn’t even realised he was crying at that point, the splatter of liquid on the page making him aware that he was._

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_She was pregnant. She was pregnant with his child and he’d lost them both._

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_The room started to close in on him and he felt he could hardly breathe. His chest was caving in on him and his mind was spinning with the revelation._

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_She was pregnant._

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_He couldn’t breathe. How could he continue to exist knowing this?_

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_How could he go on?_

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_He was going to have his own littler family and he had lost it._

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_‘DICK!’_

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_He was yanked out of his own head and met the frantic doe brown eyes of Donna. She knelt in front of him on the bed grasping his head in her hands._

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_‘Are you okay?’ She asked, panic still laced in her voice._

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_He opened his mouth to speak but found nothing coming out._

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_’Dick?’ Donna tried again._

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_Again he moved his mouth to speak but all that came out were short, distraught breaths._

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_Donna gave him a deeply concerned look but said nothing further as she gathered him into her arms. Dick returned the hug with a wild intensity, grateful for the contact to keep him grounded because without it he feared he would implode._

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_She held him there for what felt like hours, just listening to him sob into her shoulder. After a while, his cries seemed to quiet so Donna pulled back from the hug in an attempt to gain his attention._

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_’What happened?’ She asked softly, running a hand through his hair._

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_But Dick merely shook his head, not ready to say the words out loud. That would make them part of reality and he wasn’t sure he could handle that just yet._

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_Luckily, Donna wasn’t the type to push so there they stayed in silence as she held him._

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_As Dick thought of Kory’s bright smile and the bundle of joy she would have held in her arms if the cosmos weren’t so cruel._

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-

Dick poured himself another glass at the recollection. 

And another. 

And another. 

Soon enough, he could think of nothing but the nausea that settled into his stomach and the swirling room around him. 

Just as he wanted. 

After losing his parents, he had heard the phrase ‘time heals all wounds’ more times than he could count. As he got older he started to understand it some. 

But at that moment...healing felt worlds away.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it despite how all over the place i wrote it 
> 
> I know it’s unrealistic for Kory to die in this way cos she’s so powerful but i just needed to get this out of my system and a few people said they’d be interested in reading it so! 
> 
> thank you all!


End file.
